THE ROLE OF THE NURSE PRACTITIONER Research Paper

THE ROLE OF THE NURSE PRACTITIONER - Research Paper Example The FNP works and functions in a similar manner like a physician even though she lacks the same knowledge and qualifications of a doctor. In family settings, the family nurse practitioner makes routine check-ups on the physical condition of the family as well as diagnoses any form of illness and other minor injuries (Aries & Middough, 2010). Roles of a Family Nurse Practitioner in Hospital Environment A major responsibility of a nurse practitioner is preparation and maintenance of medical documentation of a certain family. She is responsible of updating the charts of her findings on the condition of a patient after the completion of diagnostic tests. A family nurse practitioner adds the new information into the patients chart. All these forms of medical communication between the nurse practitioner and the patient and between the patient and the physician in addition to any other healthcare worker involved have to be stored by the nurse practitioner in the personal file of the patient . This medical information is added to the medical history of the patient such that it can be used in future by other physicians who may be attending the patient (Hamric, 2008). Since a nurse practitioner acts under the surveillance of the attending physician, she should possess perfect communication skills and sufficiently work as expected with other attending physicians who are treating a certain specific member of a family. During the process of treating a patient, the family nurse practitioner has to be involved in the process as a she acts as a part of the medical team. It is a requirement that she shares her medical knowledge of the patient with other medical professionals as well discussing the condition of the patient in an effort to gain some knowledge about the patient which may be important at a latter date (Coffman & Edward, 1998). It is the responsibility of the family medical practitioner to discuss the condition of the patient with the doctor or any other visiting phy sician so as to receive an input approval from the doctor or the physician. In addition with collaborating with the doctor, the family nurse practitioner has to work hand-in-hand with other nurses and therapists for the betterment of their patient as they will provide important advice which will be very useful during the process of caring and treating the patient. Provision of proper medication and elderly care is also a part of their duty. After people get aged, they develop many complications where in some worse cases they get mentally retarded thus it is also a duty of the family nurse practitioner to oversee that they get the right medication as well as care (Aries & Middough, 2010). This nurse further observes the complaints of the patient and conducts a diagnosis on the patient’s health and determines the course of medication to be observed in accordance with the medical history of the patient. The family nurse practitioner has the mandate to demand lab tests or X-rays of a patient by lab physicians with reference to the condition of the patient so as to make recommendations on the type of treatment the patient is supposed to receive. For instance, a middle aged female may approach a female nurse practitioner with complaints of fatigue and based on her examination of the condition of the patient, the nurse practitioner has the liberty to order for lab tests to be conducted on such a patient so as to diagnose the scope of the